File - Senator Ted Cruz speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Monday, April 1, 2013. Cruz, along with other Republican officials, announced that they believe that Medicaid is a broken system, and that expanding it under the Affordable Care Act is the wrong move for Texas. Shown, from left, are Governor Rick Perry, US Senator John Cornyn and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. (AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman, Deborah Cannon) less

File - Senator Ted Cruz speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Monday, April 1, 2013. Cruz, along with other Republican officials, announced that they believe that Medicaid is a ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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Toomey-Manchin fails. Next up: Ted Cruz offers his version of gun rights legislation

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Increasingly bold, foes of gun control not only believe they can stop any attempts to expand background checks and close the current “gun show loophole,” they also think they can use the current debate to EXPAND gun rights.

The first major victory for gun forces was the defeat of the Toomey-Manchin compromise to expand background checks, which fell six votes short of the 60 it needed to be adopted.

Both Texas senators were in the middle of the fray today.

This morning, John Cornyn offered an amendment to allow citizens with concealed-weapons permits to carry those weapons into any other state that allowed concealed weapons.

“Rather than restricting the rights of law-abiding Americans, we should be focusing on keeping guns out of the hands of violent criminals, which this legislation accomplishes,” Cruz said in statement.

According to the summary, the bill will increase resources to prosecute offenders, create a “Cruz task force” that will go after felons and fugitives who fail background checks. The task force would cost $10 million per year.

The bill would also allocate funding for mental health resources and increase state penalties for failure to provide mental health records. The bill also seeks to change the definition of adjudicated mentally incompetent to protect second amendment rights.

To increase school safety, Grassley and Cruz proposes $30 million over 10 years in “secure our school” grants. The bill also requires a study of mass shootings be conducted.